Thanks Dave Chappelle!
Earlier this year, the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, D.C., Dave Chappelle’s alma mater, intended to bequeath a great honor upon him. They planned to name their auditorium after him. Some students at the school fervently objected due to his controversial comments about transgender people. Still, the school held its ground and asked him to accept the honor. On June 20, 2022, Chappelle delivered a timely speech at Duke Ellington about the importance of free speech. Rather than accepting the honor, he said he would like to defer it and call the auditorium the “Theater for Artistic Freedom and Expression”.
This is not the first time Chappelle has walked away from recognition or money. After two successful seasons of Chappelle’s Show, in 2005, he left a $50 million contract on the table. Only years later, during an interview with David Letterman in 2020, did he reveal that he walked away from the show because he felt that people were “laughing at the wrong thing”. He said, “It was me dressed in blackface who’d pop up anytime a person felt the pains of racism, which is a tough trick to pull off. It’s not a bad sketch, but hearing the wrong laugh, while you’re dressed that way, it makes you feel shame.”
Seventeen years after saying “no thanks” to $50 million, Dave Chappelle was again invited to host Saturday Night Live for the third time on November 12, 2022. Not surprisingly, some SNL writers and cast members boycotted the show as a result. In rehearsal, Chappelle delivered a fake monologue poking fun at them. This was likely to protect his actual monologue from censorship.
Also not surprising, the media brought more publicity to his monologue by pointing out all the ways in which it was controversial.
Though I don’t always agree with him, and some of what he says even makes me a little uncomfortable, I have a deep respect for Dave Chappelle. He is a champion of free speech and tries to stay true to his principles – even at tremendous costs.
